Man hailed for making housemate miss baby birth: ‘Call the cops’

A college student has been applauded for refusing to babysit his roommate’s 4-year-old son so he can attend the birth of his second child.

The 22-year-old student was busy studying for an upcoming exam and even threatened to ‘call the cops’ if the young boy was left in his custody. As a result, her 28-year-old housemate missed the birth entirely and later told the student he would “never forgive” her for what he had done.

But while the new dad was furious, when the dilemma was shared on Reddit, attracting more than 4,400 comments, many ended up siding with the student.

He wouldn’t be the first dad to miss the birth of his child. According to a 2019 survey of 2,000 parents by ChannelMum.com, one in five fathers say they missed the birth of their child. Even more surprisingly, research has found that one in 10 people miss the arrival of two or more newborns.

In this case, the father ended up missing the birth after issuing an ultimatum to his roommate. Writing in a post shared under the handle u/Yang22___ , the student explained that he was “studying and preparing” for an exam when his roommate “burst in” explaining that his partner was in giving birth and that he had to go to the hospital.

“He started begging me to take his son for a few hours…so he could be there for the birth of his baby,” he said. “I refused and said that I had so little time left and that I should concentrate on my studies.”

Although his roommate “begged” him to change his mind, the student refused to give in.

“He started raising his voice at me saying I was mean for no reason and he didn’t know anyone else who could take his son,” the student said. “I told him he could have prepared for it by hiring a babysitter.”

As tensions ran high, the student told the housemate to “get out” and warned that if he left his child with him he would contact the police.

“He was fuming,” the student said. “He took his son and left and came back the next day telling me that I had caused him to miss the birth of his baby and he would never forgive me for what I had done.”

Despite her anger, Alyza Berman, founder and clinical director of the Berman Center, a nationally recognized psychotherapy and mental health treatment center in Atlanta, felt the father had only himself to blame.

“I think child care is always the parent’s responsibility. A parent shouldn’t be upset if someone maintains a boundary and says they’re unable not only to watch a child but to look after a child. a child during a stressful time,” Berman said. Newsweek.

“Furthermore, how would the parent feel if the babysitter/roommate was resentful and unable to provide proper care and supervision during the time the child was with them? should have had a birth plan in advance.” Berman added.

The vast majority of comments on social media echoed Berman’s view.

XMimichella said “He knew the baby would come at some point and didn’t make any sort of arrangement,” while Visual_Efficiency_97 wrote that the roommate “should plan ahead and have at least 2 people ready to stepping in and babysitting. You can’t expect people to drop everything without even asking them to do you a favor.”

However, others like Katertot sided with the father. “It’s not a trip to the store or the dentist,” they said. “It’s the birth of his child. He can’t do it later. Don’t be surprised if it ruins your friendship. Friends help.”

Newsweek contacted u/Yang22___ for comment. We were unable to verify the details of the case.

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